Two small quadrangular black leather boxes, which a pious Jew straps to the arm and forehead during morning prayer. Each contains four biblical passages: Exodus 13:1-10 and 11-16, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 13-21. The boxes are called tefillin in Hebrew, or in English, phylacteries. In antiquity, Jews wore them throughout the day, in fulfillment of the commandment to "bind these words as a sign upon your arm and make them as an emblem between your eyes" (Deut. 6:8).